Laughing, I took a single step forward.
That was the signal for combat to resume.
Kanzaki gave a blunt command to his underlings.
"—Surround him! Now!!"
Though paralyzed with terror, the men snapped to their senses and scattered to encircle me.
I watched them, making no move to interfere.
Instead of worrying about their formation, I reactivated the enhancement skills I’d temporarily suspended.
I triggered Berserk, Fighting Spirit, and Sword Aura.
Lust Murder had already activated on its own.
Additionally, my HP had decreased by nearly forty during the fight with the goblins in the Monster Room, and I had just consumed more for Fighting Spirit and Sword Aura. This meant my HP was already below fifty percent, triggering Blood Vengeance.
With multiple skills layering their buffs, my Status looked like this:
―――――――――――――――― 【Name】 Takeo Samejima 【Level】 19 Experience Points until next level: 289,680
《HP》 44/91 《MP》 18/18 《Strength》 168 (+117) 《Constitution》 124 (+84) 《Intelligence》 11 (+5) 《Spirit》 25 (+13) 《Agility》 140 (+95) 《Dexterity》 95 (+50)
【STP】 10 【SP】 3
【Skills】 《Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons Lv. Max》《Berserk Lv. 1》《Goblin Slayer Lv. 1》《Fighting Spirit Lv. Max》《Blood Vengeance Lv. 1》《Sword Aura Lv. 1》《Taunt Lv. 1》《Lust Murder Lv. 1》
【Titles】 《Battle Junkie》《Goblin Slayer》《Pleasure Killer》 ――――――――――――――――
I didn’t know the exact levels of Kanzaki and his men, but with these stats, there was no way I could lose.
Furthermore, my pure damage multipliers had skyrocketed.
To be precise, I had a 2x multiplier from Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons, a 4x multiplier from Lust Murder, and—for direct sword strikes only—a 1.2x multiplier from Sword Aura.
This meant that the damage I currently dealt to the Human Race was a maximum of 9.6 times the base attack power generated by a Strength value of 168.
And so—it went like this.
"Kuhaha!!"
"—Ugh!?"
I charged straight at one of the men I’d picked at random from the circle.
The movement was a high-speed blitz powered by an Agility of 140.
The man, who had been on high alert, managed to react to my movement, but he couldn't actually handle it. Sliding his sword sideways into the trajectory of my incoming slash was the best he could manage.
The flat of his blade served as a shield.
I swung my sword down regardless.
CRACK!!
"——Wha?"
The diagonal slash met only the slightest resistance as it effortlessly cleaved through the man's sword, his metal breastplate, his HP Barrier, and his very torso.
Split in two by a line running from his shoulder to the opposite armpit, the man fell to the floor with a wet thud, his expression one of utter confusion.
Immediately after, I felt a massive surge of Experience Points flow into me.
"So... so good...!!"
Naturally, I didn't level up again immediately, but the Experience Points were clearly immense—incomparable even to a Goblin Knight.
I couldn't help but shiver at the sheer pleasure of it.
And then there was the sensation of carving through a hunk of flesh with a single blow. It was so intoxicatingly sensual that I felt I might become addicted.
"Oh?"
As I was immersed in the afterglow of pleasure, I noticed the men’s formation had shifted.
They had changed from a full encirclement to a semi-circular, fan-shaped formation.
Furthermore, every one of them was emitting a red aura. They had likely activated the Fighting Spirit skill.
Kanzaki screamed.
"Attack from a distance with Sword Aura!! Whittle down his HP!!"
I see.
They had switched from a strategy of mobbing me to one of wearing down my HP with long-range attacks.
They were used to fighting. It was the correct tactical decision.
While my stats had risen sharply, my HP remained the same. If I took enough hits from them, it wouldn't take long for my HP to hit zero and for my Status functions to stop.
Once that happened, they could kill me easily.
Yes, yes, not bad at all, Kanzaki-kun.
With a relaxed smile, I watched as the men—now reduced to nine, including Kanzaki—began firing off slashes of Sword Aura.
That said, it wasn't as if I was just standing there.
—Sword Aura.
By consuming 1 HP every ten seconds, this skill allowed the user to shroud their blade in Fighting Spirit to enhance damage.
In that state, by consuming an additional 1 HP, one could also fire off a projectile of aura—a very convenient skill.
When firing a slash, the HP consumed did not change regardless of skill level. The HP cost for a flying slash was fixed at 1 per shot.
—Normally, that is.
However, there was a trick to this skill. Well, rather than a "trick," it was more like a minor technique anyone who gathered information online could easily learn.
When releasing a slash of aura, if you intentionally poured extra HP into it, you could enlarge the projectile.
Of course, doing so didn't increase the attack power or damage.
Because of that, it wasn't a technique used very often... but it was useful at times like this.
"Too bad for you!"
I poured 5 HP into the aura shrouding my blade, causing it to bloat in size, and then I swung my sword in a horizontal sweep.
A massive blade of aura flew from the wide arc drawn in the empty air.
The numerous slashes released by the men and the giant blade I fired collided head-on.
And then—
"What!?"
"Hah!?"
—My giant blade unilaterally crushed the men's slashes and continued its flight.
Even Kanzaki's slash—he likely had the highest level among them—was no exception.
The reason it was so one-sided wasn't just because my current Strength was high, or because the blade of aura was larger than theirs. It was because, in my current state, even the slashes fired by Sword Aura were receiving an 8x damage multiplier.
Simply put, the raw power was on a completely different level.
"Tch!!"
Faced with the approaching giant blade, five of the men, including Kanzaki, reacted instantly and leaped backward.
However, the remaining four men were slow to react and stayed where they were. The giant blade reached them mercilessly—
SHLICE!!
It bisected the four men's torsos.
The severed upper bodies spun through the air, spraying fresh blood everywhere, before crashing to the ground.
However, the fact that the four men, including Matsuda and Aoyama, had effectively become meat shields wasn't entirely pointless.
After cleaving through the four of them, the giant blade of aura I had released lost its form and shattered.
Beyond the countless fragments of aura dissolving into the air, the remaining men's faces contorted violently.
"U-Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Letting out a collective scream, they turned their backs on me and began running toward the exit of the Monster Room.
Kanzaki, the only one who didn't run, spat out a curse at his underlings' cowardice.
"You idiots!!"
He was absolutely right.
Did they really think they could escape—that I would let them escape?
"Ahahahahahahahaha!!!"
I kicked off the floor and sprinted. In the blink of an eye, I caught up to the man at the very back of the group, and as I passed him, I took off his head with my sword.
I ran right past him without stopping and reached the exit before the others.
As I slowly turned around, the men's footsteps came to a halt.
They realized I had overtaken them, realized they couldn't escape, and realized that another one of their comrades had been cut down without them even noticing—
"Hi-Hieeeeeeeeee!?"
"Don't come near me! Stay away, stay away, stay awaaaaaaaaay!!!"
Distraught with terror, they screamed while flailing their swords around like crying children throwing a tantrum.
Their faces were pathetically distorted, and they were even shedding tears. Witnessing such a disgraceful sight, I—
"Pfft... kh... kuku... ahahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
I couldn't hold it in and let out a boisterous laugh.
"Ahahahahahahahaha!! Great! I love those faces!! They're the best!! They're so pathetically hilarious!! You're so cute!! Ahahahahahahahahaha!!"
What was this feeling?
It was so delightful.
"He-Help!! Please, help me!!"
The men begged for their lives. Watching that scene, a certain emotion welled up from the depths of my heart.
"Yes! Yes!! That's it!! Maybe this is the face I wanted to see from you all along!!"
Mercilessly killing those who were terrified, screaming, and pathetically begging for their lives.
I thought that this was a game more interesting and more enjoyable than any other entertainment in the world.
"Aaaaaaaaah... I can't hold back anymore!!!"
I wanted to play with them more, but unable to contain my impatience, I attacked while laughing and cut down three of them in a matter of seconds.
I felt enraptured by the sensation of severing flesh and bone, and I felt pure ecstasy from their screams of terror and pain.
But those weren't the only rewards for the slaughter.
—Level up.
"Ngoooooooooooooooooooh!!!!! I leveled uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!?"
A pleasure unlike anything I had ever felt before shot through my spine.
I had filled the 300,000 required experience points in an instant and reached Level 20.
The experience points obtained from the ten men were clearly an enormous amount, even taking the effects of Lust Murder into account.
"............You monster."
Only Kanzaki remained.
Feeling better than ever, I turned to face him.